CONFUSED! Please help if you have been losing weight....

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  • majope
    majope Posts: 1,325 Member
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    Also, watch your carb intake... NO BREADS or Sugar!
    Not necessary. At all. Eat in the way you intend to eat for the rest of your life, only a bit less to lose weight. Plenty of us here have lost weight while continuing to enjoy carbs--including sugar.
  • ChgingMe
    ChgingMe Posts: 539 Member
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    okay ive read all the comments thus far. I have a question. know a person who is doing the following. insanity, p90x and the gym. EVERYDAY. Yes you read that correctly. She is barely eating yet losing massive amounts of weight. she lost 5 pounds just this past week alone. If the body truly goes into starvation mode and hangs on. How is she down about 20 pounds in 4 weeks... Hows that work.

    No one has EVER said that in "starvation mode" you can't lose weight. The issue is that very low calorie diets slow your metabolism, sometimes to the point that it is DIFFICULT to create a big enough calorie deficit to continue to lose weight rapidly, or even to lose weight at all. Once you've done that, your choice becomes to cut calories further, even more drastically -- or to try to restore metabolism ... by eating more.

    As an example, a recent study of Biggest Loser contestants found that by week 30, they were burning 500 calories less per day than someone of their current weight who was not on a reduced calorie diet. If that was you, you could be walking around thinking you were eating to lose a pound a week, and in actually be eating at maintenance.

    I do believe she is cutting them even more. I know she isn't eating more. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.. thanx
  • FrnkLft
    FrnkLft Posts: 1,821 Member
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    Well this one is easy, just use MFP's suggestion and try your best to hit your goal. Don't eat less than 1200 calories a day.

    Also, make sure you are logging EVERYTHING you consume. If you leave out a soda or candy or that last minute meal you ate before bed because you were hungry, you're literally just cheating yourself and you're going to stay confused.

    If it's embarassing, then just keep your Food Diary private so noone can see that you went over. Zero judgement here, just use it as a tool and keep working at it regardless of wether or not you meet your daily goals. You'll get there. :smile:
  • CMcBryer
    CMcBryer Posts: 139 Member
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    okay ive read all the comments thus far. I have a question. know a person who is doing the following. insanity, p90x and the gym. EVERYDAY. Yes you read that correctly. She is barely eating yet losing massive amounts of weight. she lost 5 pounds just this past week alone. If the body truly goes into starvation mode and hangs on. How is she down about 20 pounds in 4 weeks... Hows that work.

    Your friend's body is using whatever it can for fuel, which means that fat stores will be used, but there is a danger that muscle is also being broken down to fuel the body as well.
  • erikacole
    erikacole Posts: 87 Member
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    1. How many calories have you been consuming. That information is needed to determine why you aren't losing weight. You may be eating too many or not enough.
    2. What is your physical activity level?

    The different numbers you are getting are likely your BMR and TDEE. Your BMR is the calories that your body would burn if you did absolutely nothing all day (stayed in bed, watched tv, etc). My BMR is around 1500 (I am 5'4" 162lbs). Now your TDEE takes into account all of your physical activity. If you are sedentary then your TDEE would be more than your BMR but not significantly. If you worked out, for instance, 5-6 days a week your TDEE would be in the lower 2,000 range (let's say 2,300 for the sake of argument). So you would need to eat 2,300 calories a day, plus workout 5-6 days to MAINTAIN your weight.

    Now in order to lose weight, there needs to be a deficit of your TDEE. Most people start off at about a 20% deficit, so you would need to eat 20% less calories than whatever your TDEE is to lose weight. How large or small your deficit is will determine the rate you lose.

    1. On average I have been consuming 1300 per MFP (at the set rate of 1.5 lbs a week).
    2. My physical activity level is I usually exercise 30 minutes 4-5 times a week. I have been adding that activity and allowing myself to consume those calories.

    Ok, so thinking out loud now.... my TDEE is 1,677 calories a day (BMR x 1.375 light activity). If my goal is 1lb./week I need to have an average 500 deficiency per day--thus 1,177 (even less than MFP allows!).

    Wow....maybe I am over eating.....
  • pilk32
    pilk32 Posts: 15 Member
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    Do not get overwhelemed with numbers, and what the Internet says. It will just keep your head spinning.

    Use common sense, and utilize MFP as a loose guideline for what YOU want to do. trust YOUR instincts, and do what YOU feel is right. Tweak what isnt working, and leave what is working alone.

    As others have said, make sure you log EVERYTHING. Even a little 5 calorie Crystal Light packet. These things all add up, and you can start to see trends as to why you may not be getting scale victories. It is very telling.

    Bottom line is, trust yourself, and do not get bogged down with too much research in front of a computer. Instead, spend that time on a treadmill WORKING on YOUR goal, rather than just researching it...
  • erikacole
    erikacole Posts: 87 Member
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    MFP Is usually good with calories for weight loss if you've added your stats correctly. The most common thing I see on here is people who don't MEASURE. If you are estimating the amounts of what you're eating, it's likely that you are pretty far off with what you are consuming vs. what you are calculating. And the person above is right - you can cut your calories to starvation and not lose weight if you don't increase your metabolism by increasing your exercise a bit. Even some light walks will help if you're not an active person... I run but still gain weight when I don't measure my foods and just estimate my portion sizes...

    Well I recalculated and am in agreement with you....MFP is right...I think I am over eating (which completely freaks me out as I am starving already! ha!-- I feel that way some days). Doesn't help right now that it is lunch time and I am PMSing!

    I am lightly active (30 mins/4-5 days a week).

    Thanks for your help!
  • erikacole
    erikacole Posts: 87 Member
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    You don't have much to lose. Try setting your goal at either 1lb or 1/2lb a week, preferably the latter.

    The less you have to lose, the less of a deficit you should have.

    I have it set at 1.5 because I have 15 to loose and thought 10 weeks were a good amount.....I would hate to drop that and add 5 weeks to the course!

    Thanks for your help!
  • sarah6336
    sarah6336 Posts: 108 Member
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    The different calorie amounts suggested, I assume, are depending on exercise. I went with mfp's suggestions and lost 27-28 lbs over six months. For me, it was really slow at first. It is really key to measure and weigh your food while trying to diet. That, and accurately enter in your exercise. I hope this helps. Hang in there!
  • erikacole
    erikacole Posts: 87 Member
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    Hi Erica,
    It looks like you are trying to drop 15 lbs, a very reasonable goal. My suggestion is that you use TDEE - 15 or 20% as this gives you a calorie goal that is constant every day based on your weekly exercise rather than boomeranging around based on how much you exercise each day.

    An example - my TDEE is 2800 so I am at 2300 kcal a day to lose a lb a week (this is about 20%. Because I eat food high in protein and with lots of whole grains, I probably only eat 2100-2200 a day on average (occasionally in the 2400 to 2500 range if I have a beer with friends).

    And it works!

    check out - http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Well I thought I figured my TDEE out qand it was 1,677 (my BMR 1220 x 1.375 light activity)., if I drop that it is down to 1,177.....MFP says 1,300 so maybe I am over eating?
  • erikacole
    erikacole Posts: 87 Member
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    Terpnista is completely right about the BMR and TDEE. other tricks that we have with loosing weight are working out making sure you are drinking enough water. I dropped 15 in the past 6 weeks or so, I am doing p90x which I attribute all of my success too. Doing any kind of strength training will raise your BMR since muscle takes more to maintain calorie wise than fat. so you will actually be burning more calories while your resting. Drinking a lot of water is important because when we are dehydrated our cells retain water for fear that we will not get enough ( like they were saying when we under eat our body goes into starvation mode and it slows our metabolism down and you will not loose) So when you do actually hydrate yourself you will flush the access water out of your body I think one week I had like almost a 6 lb lose from water alone. the good rule of thumb for that is half your weight in ounces every day. so for you at 173 that would be at least 86.5 ounces of water a day. another bonus to drinking enough water I no longer crave any kind of soda or juice that is calories that don't help at all so that cut back a ton of cals every day. Best of luck to you if you want you can add me as a friend for encouragement I am planning on trying to loose another 30 in the next 4 months we can motivate each other
  • erikacole
    erikacole Posts: 87 Member
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    Terpnista is completely right about the BMR and TDEE. other tricks that we have with loosing weight are working out making sure you are drinking enough water. I dropped 15 in the past 6 weeks or so, I am doing p90x which I attribute all of my success too. Doing any kind of strength training will raise your BMR since muscle takes more to maintain calorie wise than fat. so you will actually be burning more calories while your resting. Drinking a lot of water is important because when we are dehydrated our cells retain water for fear that we will not get enough ( like they were saying when we under eat our body goes into starvation mode and it slows our metabolism down and you will not loose) So when you do actually hydrate yourself you will flush the access water out of your body I think one week I had like almost a 6 lb lose from water alone. the good rule of thumb for that is half your weight in ounces every day. so for you at 173 that would be at least 86.5 ounces of water a day. another bonus to drinking enough water I no longer crave any kind of soda or juice that is calories that don't help at all so that cut back a ton of cals every day. Best of luck to you if you want you can add me as a friend for encouragement I am planning on trying to loose another 30 in the next 4 months we can motivate each other

    Sorry--yes WATER!!! I need to increase. I do pretty good. About 70-80 a day. But could always improve. I am so tempted to do PX90! I am starting out with Jillian's 30 Day Shred first and then will move that direction! I am not so worried about a scale moving, as my body changing and I just haven't seen either happen! I will add you! Thanks so much!
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
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    The less you have to lose the harder it is. Just keep working the 1300 or even drop it to 1200.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    1.5 lbs a week is too high a goal when you have so little to lose. .5-1lb a week

    Please please please before you start slashing your calories try logging consistently.

    Why not start with the easy solution first?
  • ChgingMe
    ChgingMe Posts: 539 Member
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    okay ive read all the comments thus far. I have a question. know a person who is doing the following. insanity, p90x and the gym. EVERYDAY. Yes you read that correctly. She is barely eating yet losing massive amounts of weight. she lost 5 pounds just this past week alone. If the body truly goes into starvation mode and hangs on. How is she down about 20 pounds in 4 weeks... Hows that work.

    A. Lots of water weight

    B. She may be very heavy (obese or very overweight), in which case large deficits and larger weight losses can be sustained. Cannot be sustained with little to lose.

    C. "Starvation mode" is way over used...but yes, eventually she will stall out. A month is nothing...see where she's at in a couple months...my guess is a nice long plateau. It generally takes the body 4-6 weeks to adjust itself. Not really "starvation mode" though...just the body protecting itself by shutting down non-essential functions because it's not getting the energy it needs...think of rolling black outs in a city where the power plant can't provide enough energy...same concept.
  • kimdt74
    kimdt74 Posts: 22 Member
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    When I first started I was also confused by all the information on here. The site that helped me the most was http://www.fat2fitradio.com/. I figured out how many calories I should be eating then customized my goals. I still track my exercise but I change the calories burned to 1 so I can keep up with how much I exercise, but that is already figured in to my calories for the day. Also if you don't have a food scale I would recommend getting one. I was amazed at what an actual portion size was. I use my scale for every meal, and I think that has helped me more than anything.
  • AliceKlaar
    AliceKlaar Posts: 275 Member
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    Hi Erica,
    It looks like you are trying to drop 15 lbs, a very reasonable goal. My suggestion is that you use TDEE - 15 or 20% as this gives you a calorie goal that is constant every day based on your weekly exercise rather than boomeranging around based on how much you exercise each day.

    An example - my TDEE is 2800 so I am at 2300 kcal a day to lose a lb a week (this is about 20%. Because I eat food high in protein and with lots of whole grains, I probably only eat 2100-2200 a day on average (occasionally in the 2400 to 2500 range if I have a beer with friends).

    And it works!

    check out - http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Well I thought I figured my TDEE out qand it was 1,677 (my BMR 1220 x 1.375 light activity)., if I drop that it is down to 1,177.....MFP says 1,300 so maybe I am over eating?

    You've gone wrong somewhere - your BMR according to that particular calculator is 1537.
  • skyfall87
    skyfall87 Posts: 4 Member
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    I've lost 30 so far, I'm at 170 and my calorie intake adjusted to 1280 a day, make sure you eating small meals throughout the day, and also what really helped me was I became EXTREMELY SERIOUS & made sure I only ate 1 serving, you might think you are but the best results I've seen have come from me using measuring cups, measuring spoons and VERY small plates. It takes a bit longer to prep your meals but it is worth it. You would be shocked at what an actual serving is!

    It won't look like much at first but soon 1 cup of soup and half a sandwich will fill you up no problem. You'll be hungry again about 2-3 hours later so make that snack healthy, almonds, a slice of turkey with a thin slice of cheese no bread! Don't buy packaged those "100 calorie" snack things, they don't do anything but make you fat I don't care what the label says!

    Also, be VERY aware of your sugar intake! There's a great book called Sugar Busters and it explains it very well, if you don't keep your blood sugar levels steady, weight loss will be much harder. A lot of the sugar comes from the "healthy" protein bars, energy bars, "100 calorie" packaged snacks, avoid processed foods if possible. Fresh is ALWAYS best! Sugars from fruit are ok, but the fruit needs to be fresh from a farmers market or the produce section, NO CANNED AND/OR PACKAGED FRUIT!! :) And if you really are on the run and have to run through a drive through, get the smallest kids meal they have.

    Watch your SODIUM intake as well, sodium will make you retain water more and this makes weight loss harder as well, and it may sound odd but drink LOTS of WATER WATER WATER!! NO cokes, dr peppers, none of that! If you must have your coke, make sure it's a diet coke and limit those to maybe one a day 2 at the most!

    SO, to sum it up, CALORIES COUNT! But not just that, sugar, sodium, processed food, and large portions are BIG BIG NO NO'S! Exercise will only account for about 20% of weight loss BUT if you do like to work out, eat healthy that day, you'll feel so much better! =)
  • Puggles04
    Puggles04 Posts: 37
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    This post is step by and explains it rather well. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • jackiesaurus
    jackiesaurus Posts: 42 Member
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    I'm 5'8" and when I started MFP I was 174 - today I weighed in at 158 (my lowest on MFP about 6 months ago was 156).
    Of course everyone is different, but here's what worked for me...

    - lose pounds in the kitchen, get fit at the gym. this motto has worked well for me. I eat 1400 - 1550 calories (about BMR) on week days and 2000 on weekends (because I'm not giving up alcohol or birthday cake! lol), and try to do a minimum of 3 days of cardio for 30 minutes, and an hour of yoga every week, plus if I can, "something active" on the weekends - biking, hiking, roller skating, a long walk, something. Right now I'm rehabbing a muscle issue so i'm only stretching every day - and still losing weight eating this way.

    - currently I lose .5 pound - 1.25 pound every week or two (2 - 5 pounds a month, slow, but I know my weekends kill faster progress for me, but i think its worth it). I also tend to gain two pounds every time I get my period - but it always falls off after (water retention, i think).

    - What you eat matters. I make it a priority that all my breakfasts and lunches are whole, plant based foods, with maybe a hard boiled egg or some tuna thrown in for protein. At night I find it's harder to stick to, so I still eat some processed dinners....but even just making that change has helped me speed up how much I'm losing. (peanut butter and fruit for breakfast, nuts or hard boiled egg for snack, salads or veggie soup or veggie sandwiches on whole grain for lunch, veggies with homemade dressing for another snack or another fruit)

    I hope this helps and feel free to add a friend on a similar journey! :)

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